International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A

MISSION

Dedicated to promoting new generations of young keyboard artists through an internationally linked competition and festival.

A WORLD-CLASS EVENT IN FORT COLLINS

With a vision to create a world-class piano competition and catapult Fort Collins into a global beacon for talented pianists from around the world, the International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A. (IKOF) was founded in 2011 by Dr. Janet Landreth, professor emerita and former chair of keyboard studies at Colorado State University. The word “Odyssiad®” was coined from Odyssey (a journey) and subsequently registered and trademarked. The motto, “A Journey to the Performance of a Lifetime,” was adopted to encapsulate the highest performance standards of the competitors in pursuit of those ideals. IKOF held its first production in 2012.

Now held each summer at the University Center for the Arts at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, IKOF enriches the region through live concerts by world-renowned pianists and serves upwards of 3,000 people each year by remaining committed to modest ticket pricing that allows the broadest economic spectrum to attend.

The festival features masterclasses, lectures, and presentations by world-renowned performers and acclaimed academicians with a series of matinee and evening concerts that present celebrated pianists from around the world to the community of Fort Collins and the surrounding areas.

WORLD-CLASS PIANISTS

The Odyssiad®, “A Journey to the Performance of a Lifetime,’’ competition draws aspiring young pianists from North America, Europe, and Asia, and the festival is a magnet for exceptionally talented, world-class pianists, both as competitors and guest artists. With an Olympic-style format, the Odyssiad® is open to pianists ages 7-35 in three phases of competition: a Preliminary Round judged online by experts from around the U.S., and the LIVE Semifinal and Final Rounds at Colorado State’s University Center for the Arts (UCA).